FIVE DAYS UNTIL THE NEXT SHOWDOWN AT BRESLIN

The Spartans will defend home court against the Wolverines this weekend in men's basketball. It's the first meeting of the season, after the two teams split a pair of regular-season games last year. Michigan State won by 23 in East Lansing before losing by a point in the last second of the game in Ann Arbor in 2013.

Some folks are thinking that the series is fairly even now, since UM won four of the last six games (two of them by a single point). A guy named "SomeGuy73", who posts a lot on MLive, suggested recently that Michigan fans could claim a new basketball supremacy in the same way that Michigan State fans claim that status in football. Hmmm. Maybe we should take a closer look.

Here are the outcomes of the last 10 games between MSU and UM in Men's Basketball, listed in chronological order with the winner and final margin (bottom = most recent):

• MSU by 15
• MSU by 12
• MSU by 1
• MSU by 16
• UM by 4
• UM by 7
• UM by 1
• MSU by 10
• MSU by 23
• UM by 1

A quick sum of the numbers shows that UM outscored MSU by 13 points in its four wins, while the Spartans outscored the Wolverines by 77 points in their six wins. That's a 10-year margin of +64 points for MSU. So the last ten games are 60%-40% for Michigan State, with an average annual margin of 6-7 points per game. Pretty close, but if you had to designate one team as better, the data favors Tom Izzo.

Now let's take a look at the overall team performance on a season-by-season basis over the last five years. (We'll leave years six through ten for later review, as we're confident those UM years will pale in comparison to the same seasons for MSU.)

MICHIGAN STATE

• 2009:  31-7 first place / final four
• 2010:  29-9 first place / final four
• 2011:  19-15 fourth place / first round
• 2012:   29-8 first place / sweet sixteen
• 2013:   27-9 second place / sweet sixteen

MSU FIVE YEAR TOTAL = 135-48 (.738)

Five Big Dance Bids, Two Final Fours, Two Sweet Sixteens

MICHIGAN

• 2009:  20-13 seventh place / second round
• 2010:  15-17 seventh place / no tournament
• 2011:  20-13 fourth place / second round
• 2012:  24-9 first place / first round
• 2013:  26-7 fourth place / final four

UM FIVE YEAR TOTAL = 105-59 (.640)

Four Big Dance Bids, One Final Four

Over the past five years, MSU has won about 10% more games, including three conference titles and two final fours, compared to one each for UM. Again, the data favors Sparty.

None of this foretells the game on Saturday, but it appears the tide hasn't quite turned towards the yellow-and-blue, or even all the way to "even". The next few games in the series could swing the pendulum either way, or it could begin to settle in the middle. But for now, the Spartans control the series, and will seek to extend their advantage this weekend.




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MSU Hoops Pick and Roll: Inaugural Edition

INAUGURAL EDITION
Our feature on MSU BASKETBALL brings diverse responses to
a variety of questions related to the Spartans program. 

Pick & Roll will be published periodically during the season and weekly through post season action.

Our Panelists:

ATownAndDown (Follow A-Town on M-Live)

SpartanMan82 (Check out SM82's Basketball Posts)

This Week's Questions:

1. Is Tom Izzo about to pop a vein in his neck, or what? Explain what we're seeing with all of the ferocious intensity from our favorite Coach.

2. The Spartans seem to be sputtering at times, yet they are matching long-standing team records and setting new ones almost every game. Will this team live up to its highest expectations?

3. Quick guess, who leaves early from MSU after this year?

Panelist Responses:

1. Is Tom Izzo about to pop a vein in his neck, or what? Explain what we're seeing with all of the ferocious intensity from our favorite Coach.

SpartanMan82 (Check out SM82's Basketball Posts)
I think people are making too big of a deal out of it. I know some people are revolted to see what they believe is a repugnant image, but I'm still seeing it as an aberration largely specific to Valentine, who he's known since birth. When you recruit a player as an assistant coach, then recruit his sons, the coach/player relationship is a little different. I don't think any of us can truly know how it's different, or how it feels to be different in that way, or any of it. Denzel's brother sits right behind the bench, and his Dad stepped down from high school coaching (after two consecutive state championships) largely to pay attention to his son at MSU. So I'm sure everybody in the Valentine/Izzo camp is on track with everything.

We can speculate as amateur psychologists about the motivations and fears of Tom Izzo, and how they all translate into what we've seen him like lately. Or we can just let it ride, likely to not see much of that exact same stuff again, for a variety of reasons. I choose to let it ride.

ATownAndDown (Follow A-Town on M-Live)
I think Izzo's intensity comes from two places: frustration and motivation. This year's team plays a lot like a really good NBA team will. Those teams that seem to "turn it on" whenever they want to. The problem is they are not always on and almost seem like they are not in it. Then they turn it on and go for an 18-3 run. I think Izzo knows he has something special here with this group and the fact that they let teams hang around or they try to coast to wins, instead of coming out and just dominating the competition is frustrating (add in the injuries and lineup juggling and you have one frustrated coach). At the same time he doesn't want this team to fall too far into the trap thinking they can just go at anytime. We saw it against OSU. With 8 minutes to go they were in chill mode and when they tried to turn it on around 3 minutes, it wasn't there. He is pushing these guys as much as he can so they don't fall asleep at the wheel.

As Posted by Return2Glory on M-Live: return2glory | SpartanResource.com
Izzo has such a high balance in his emotional bank account with each player that it allows him take withdrawals and not get into the red (overdrawn). He makes so many deposits into their emotional bank account the withdrawals hardly matter.

Reader Response: kmak
That's a good way to put it. Many are missing the whole picture. Where were all the nay-sayers when Izzo was out giving Green an unbridled bear hug on the court after a play well-done? These kids know Izzo has there backs. We may see him yell and walk away, but what we don't always see is the compassionate conversation he takes the time to have in the locker room with his players after the game and give them a pat on the back or sometimes a bear hug.

____________________________________________

2. The Spartans seem to be sputtering at times, yet they are matching long-standing team records and setting new ones almost every game. Will this team live up to its highest expectations?

ATownAndDown (Follow A-Town on M-Live)
So much can go off kilter in college basketball. Come Tourney time, one loss means you are done. This team has the goods. It seemed like MSU always has a good balance where their are 2-3 guys that can push that 20 point area in any game and then there are a few others that don't surprise in double figures. This year Appling, Payne, or Harris can push 30 any given night. Dawson, Valentine, Trice and Kaminski have all scored 15 or more points in games this year. This team is a Championship caliber team. Its crazy to think about the injuries and bad breaks this group has gotten and they are still 17-1. Only 3 players have played in all 18 contests this year: Appling, Valentine and Schilling. And guys like Costello, Payne, Harris, Dawson and Trice have battled through illness or injury in a few of those contests they were in. If the team can get healthy and Izzo can do what Izzo seems to always do, this team is scary.

SpartanMan82 (Check out SM82's Basketball Posts)
They are certainly in position for everything other than the undefeated season. But the "highest expectation" is the National Championship, and those can no more be guaranteed in January than they can in March. So we'll have to see about that.

But most of the "sputtering" appears to have been part of the annual process of re-creating a new team. To have only one loss, and none in the conference after five games, puts MSU in the driver's seat as the other teams all play begin to each other.

If the Payne-to-Gain process pays dividends with a truly healthy player before too long, everything else seems to be falling into place for a strong February and beyond. The Costello mono-thing should gradually dissipate, as he first sat out for it six weeks ago. Harris seems quite functional and reports that his ankle is better every day. The injuries to Appling by definition will take time, but with time they will heal, as they are not chronic or stress-induced. (Appling suffered impact bruises to one side of his body from a fall he took on December 4.) In the meantime, other players are stepping in and trying to step up. If everybody is healthy and the team is at full strength when the finish-line starts coming into view, this team could reach any or all of its goals.

_________________________________________________

3. Quick guess, who leaves early from MSU after this year?

SpartanMan82 (Check out SM82's Basketball Posts)
Everybody has been counting Harris as definitely gone, and understandably so, based on his apparent draft-rank status last year. But he hasn't been packing the stats recently, and I heard Jim Comparoni say that he "may" return, so I'll put Harris at 80% gone.

I've had my doubts about Dawson leaving early for some time, and his performance package doesn't look so darn draft-able right now. I'm guessing he stays, and I'm up to around 70% on that right now. There is still time for him to "make a run" with a mid-season uptick like Payne made last year. But he's on track to stay for his senior season.

If Dawson stays, gains motivation and focus like we've seen Payne do, and benefits from the increased freedom of his Senior year, MSU could remain a viable team next year. (It will be a tough comedown even with him, but without him, much harder.)

ATownAndDown (Follow A-Town on M-Live)
Harris. And even that might not be the best decision. Really this question should be "do you think either BJ or Harris will leave?" Harris is still highly regarded but he is going to slip a bit because this is now the second year that he has had injury issues. He also might slip a little more because he has had a propensity to disappear at times. Now that could be injury related but it doesn't help that outside of Valentine he has the lowest shooting percentage on the team of the guys in the regular rotation. He has also fallen in love with his outside shot. He is on pace to shoot as many 3's as he did last year within the next 7 games. And he is hitting over 10% less of those attempts. For a guy who is supposed to be a scorer, he is not having a strong showing this season.

BJ is improved over last year but he needs to experience a revolution to be catching any NBA eyes. Even if he does that he might be in the AP boat and better off coming back for a senior year. BJ has still has a tendency to not play 100% all the time. We have seen Izzo sit him because of his effort this year. And while BJ has shown some improvement in his offensive game he is not NBA ready. The guy is 6-6, 225 lbs. That makes him a 2 in the NBA and no one is putting a guy on their team that is a shooting guard that can't (or won't) put up the long ball. Even if you wanted him to be your 3, that is an issue because that swing spot has become the gold standard for the position you build around. Guys like LeBron, Durant, George and Carmelo, all are 3's. BJ can leap with those guys but he doesn't have the jumper or ability to create enough for himself for any team to see him as anything more than a bench guy.

So I think they should both stay but I think Harris is a strong lean toward leaving. NBA teams still draft based on what a guy could be, and not what he is, so someone with big dreams for what Harris could be will jump on him early and that is what you want as a player.

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2013 "chUMp-of-the-Year" FINALIST PROFILE: DAVID BRANDON

The 2013 "chUMp-of-the-Year" race has come down to three finalists, Taylor Lewan, Desmond Howard, and David Brandon. Today we make the case for Brandon to be crowned King chUMp for 2013.

I can still remember that September Saturday as we were driving to the Michigan State football game, and what did we see up in the otherwise blue sky but a smoke message that said "Go Blue". For many people, this was the incident that introduced them to David Brandon. His obfuscated responses to many inquiries about this over-the-top stunt revealed Brandon to be a consummate dodge-artist, as well as a Machiavellan puppeteer.

It's unusual to think of an Athletic Director as "King chUMp", but consider their universe in obverse relation to our own. We have Mark Hollis, an AD that is busting the performance-bar for his profession, setting new marks for innovation on a regular basis, and steering the Michigan State programs to unprecedented success across the board. He has raised a great deal of money and established sound financial practices to work within his limited budgets. (e.g., When was the last time we kept paying a coach who we fired?)

So perhaps it's realistic to recognize that as good and effective and dignified Mark Hollis is, his counterpart on The Dark Side may be as corrupt as Hollis is clean. That's consistent with what Anonymous told us:

"I know in my heart I'm supposed to say Brandon. He's older, should know better, and yet still makes decisions - not to mention the comments made regarding those decisions - that baffle the mind. What is wrong with this man?"

MSUSpartan76 made a compelling case for David Brandon as King chUMp, making his pizza background into a silly nickname:

"Father Noid is my vote. Who is worse, the idiot or the idiot who hired the idiot? Da blane! Da blane! Not only did he hire the sky writers, he then went on to claim they were off course, that it happened all over the state (except over Michigan Stadium), then tried to minimize it by claiming it cost (out of athletic department funds) much less than what the sky writers said it cost. To continue his arrogance (a quality valued by chUMps), he did not bother to try to match the MSU Alumni fund raising for a significant charity. Had he done so, he could have regained a measure of respect.

"No respect. Arrogance. Ability to simultaneously talk out of both sides at the same time. Idiot. Makes for a chUMp."

Another huge vote comes from ReturnToGlory (R2G):

"David Brandon is the leader. He could cure the culture, but he has proven to be a true-blue chUMp. He sets the tone in the sports department. He is totally cool with his coaches and players referring to another Big Ten institution with the name of an institution in the MAC as an insult ("Ohio"). If fans want to do that, fine - he has no authority over them, but players and coaches in multiple sports? Pre-2013, he allowed this childish practice to continue even after his basketball team got beat by that very MAC team wearing green and white in the NCAA Tournament. His DECISION to arrange and pay for the the skywriting of GO BLUE in the sky above Spartan Stadium on game day was childish and his lies related to it, despicable. His actions raised the levels of chUMpitis through all of Blue Nation. He is the leader. David Brandon is king chUMp."

R2G makes the key observation that dozens of these silly "Ohio" references were made publicly, officially,  and consistently all through 2013. While Brandon himself may not be saying the word, he holds the authority to put a stop to the silly games started by Brady Hoke upon his return to UM. And while nobody got a "chump-of-the-Month" citation for calling the Buckeyes "Ohio", perhaps somebody should have gotten one. In the view of R2G, all "Ohio" references track back to Brandon, and that alone may be enough to win the annual prize.

Brandon is the last Finalist to be profiled on this web site. The final decision on 2013 "chUMp-of-the-Year" is coming this week. You may still have a voice in the process by commenting your vote!




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2013 "chUMp-of-the-Year" FINALIST PROFILE: DESMOND HOWARD

The 2013 "chUMp-of-the-Year" race has come down to three finalists, Taylor Lewan, Desmond Howard, and David Brandon. Today we make the case for Howard to be crowned King chUMp for 2013.

Howard's main point of misbehavior in college comes mostly in retrospect, as a more mature consideration of his "Heisman-pose" suggests he was over-the-line with that stunt. But there hasn't been much to complain about with him until recently, as he's been using his commercial sports commentator job to toss around a lot of trash about Michigan State. It was bad enough in September, when Howard was dishonorably-mentioned for his disparaging remarks about MSU Football. But it continued all season, right down to a half-time prediction at the Rose Bowl, in which he called for a runaway Stanford victory. His views on the Spartans placed him so far off the curve, and made him so consistently wrong, that one might think his employer would begin to notice.

We first consider this comment from "Anonymous", regarding the trophy-posing commentator:

"I really believe the vote has to go Desmond Howard. This man sits on a major media platform, watched by thousands of future D-1 football recruits and parent alike. The man is so ingrained in chUMp love that he can't be professional for even the shortest of segments and give other teams their due respect. The man talked about the MSU Defense being "good but "not great", and he referred to the MSU Offense as being inept "because that is Dantonio ball". He stated that Stanford would "run away with the Rose Bowl in the second half" due to the adjustments made at halftime. His hatred for MSU I'm sure goes right to "#No. 1 vs No One", where he dropped the final pass in the endzone to cost UM a possible victory. Pass Interference? Maybe. A pure Drop? Absolutely."

Perhaps the most compelling case for Howard comes from "MadisonMegaPlans", who says:

"Mine is Desmond Howard for sure. He is supposed to be some kind of promulgator of football knowledge, instead he is a poor excuse for what he is supposed to be. Sure, it's entertainment, but for football fans it needs to attain a reasonable standard of expertise minus the bias. From the beginning of the season he downplayed and downgraded the defense. He picked against State when they played UM, OSU and of course the 17 point spread he predicted for a Stanford win. State hasn't given up 30 points since the BCG against Wisc. in 2011. Only 2 teams have scored 28 points over the past two seasons. So Stanford was going to somehow blow us out by 17? It was a totally punk-ass statement that he stuck with through halftime. Keep in mind he is part of a group of UM players from the 90's that have this totally elitist attitude toward the Spartans, stating that MSU should not be mentioned in the same sentence with UM. Any win MSU got back then was the result of some freak play or whatever. He cannot let go of that and admitting the truth in the face of evidence is more than he is capable of. I get nauseated just hearing him speak."

But MSUSpartan76 does not think Howard should get the trophy:

"Desmond Howard is just irrelevant. Someone needs to tell him. Then again, he won't believe anything anyone tells him.

"Desmond Howard is working to be replaced with someone who (a) does not look like a nerd and (b) actually knows something about football."

Howard mouthed-off against MSU all football season, using his paid position to denigrate his hated rival, while claiming the Spartans were only the #3 rival for UM.

What do you think? Should Desmond Howard be anointed King chUMp for 2013? Add your vote by commenting below.

The third Finalist, David Brandon,

will be profiled tomorrow on this web site.

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2013 "chUMp-of-the-Year" FINALIST PROFILE: TAYLOR LEWAN

The 2013 "chUMp-of-the-Year" race has come down to three finalists, Taylor Lewan, Desmond Howard, and David Brandon. Today we make the case for Lewan to be crowned King chUMp for 2013.

Lewan was named "chUMp-of-the-Month" in December 2013, largely based on the police investigation into reports that he assaulted civilians wearing Ohio STATE apparel the night after losing to the Buckeyes in Ann Arbor. Here's what we said back then:

Mister Big Pretty Boy ended the month by losing to Ohio STATE at home and then carrying on about how nothing matters pretty much at all except for "being Michigan". Okay, ugh, what a doofus. Like we haven't heard all that claptrap before.

But it turns out that Mister Bloody Forehead decided to meet up with a few Buckeyes after the game, as in, way-y-y-y-y-y after the game. Like after midnight, the first day of December. Not actual players, mind you, just some fans of Brutus. And he might just have beaten one or two of them up. Maybe a little stomping. He might have had some police protection. Then he went ahead and played in the bowl game. That Hoke is such a strict disciplinarian!

It was Lewan who provoked and pummeled William Gholston two years ago, including the infamous play during which Lewan held Gholston to the ground by his facemask on the backside of a long play while nobody was looking that way. It was after being held down for several seconds that Gholson jumped up and slapped Lewan on the side of his helmet, drawing the penalty. But that was 2011.

In the 29-6 game on November 2nd, Lewan was observed through post-game video review committing multiple un-called penalties, including helmet-twisting on the backside of a long play. That was after he said UM had been "bullied" by MSU in the 2011 game, but before he said it happened again, which he said the week after the 2013 game.

Lewan has garnered some reader support for the nomination. Consider these comments from "Anonymous":

"First instinct is a bright, flashing red blinker over the bloodied forehead of Taylor Lewan. It's so hard to even consider anyone else when you've got that psycho in the mix.

"He very likely attacked some OSU fans (an act not inconsistent with his character), hours after a loss. This followed not-so-nicely his earlier having very likely threatened a female with a re-rape (another act - the threat, at least - seemingly not inconsistent with his character).

"His brutality carried over to his on-field performance, most noticeably during the MSU trouncing of UM.  

"His tortured interpretation of the state of UM Football reflected his own narcissism and delusional elitism (this last being not so uncommon amongst UM faithful). This is perhaps most evident in his comments in the presser after the OSU game. 

"The guy is just dangerous. All the more dangerous considering he seems to have been enabled in his lunacy by AAPD, Hoke and Co., refs, and the press, among others."

MSUSpartan76 was quick to the point, when he said, "Taylor Lewan belongs in jail." He later added, "We expect Taylor Lewan, and Royce Jenkins-Stone to share a cell, with Fitz Toussaint performing janitorial services for their cell-block."

As the process continued and Lewan advanced at every step, our "Anonymous" reader summed up the difficulty of the decision:

"But the wacko-factor compels me to vote for Lewan. Big, nasty, mentally unbalanced (we can assume, given the behavior), with a chip weighing down his massive shoulders, and unencumbered by any semblance of moral restraint. Unless he makes some serious adjustments - with the assistance of professionals - my Chump of the Year might well be wearing prison blues soon enough. That is, if he leaves any witnesses."

Even C-Mann79 has weighed-in on the balloting:

"I cast my ballot for top chUMp of 2013 for our boy Taylor Lewan. I was at Lucas Oil Stadium for this year's B1G Championship and watched the boy wonder accept some offensive lineman award. When 80,000 joined in a chorus of disapproval as his name was announced he had a huge belly laugh as he filled the stadium's big screens.

"Mr. chUMp, you earned these boo's not because you play for a conference rival. You earned them because you continue to call your rival's Ohio and Little Brother. You earned them because you play like you have all ready been drafted by the Oakland Raiders for your dirty play. (Justice would be served if he has to block for his Ohio friend, Terrelle Pryor.) You earned them because of your off the field escapades. You earned earned them because your truly are a chUMp. Your varsity mug shot should be emblazoned next to the definition of a chUMp on this website for the year for you truly earned that designation for 2013."

There has been no further news on the police investigation into Lewan's behavior after midnight on December 1st. The reports that came out on December 24 can be found by "googling" TAYLOR LEWAN POLICE INVESTIGATION.

One final note is to recall the comments Lewan made in the days after losing to Ohio STATE. He basically said, "No matter that we lost, we're still better, na-na-na-billygoat!"

So now we leave it to you one final time, if you haven't commented your vote yet, please do so below.




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2013 "chUMp-of-the-Year" FINAL VOTING GOES INTO OVERTIME

When we look back at the year 2013, we will probably realize that it was a really great year for chUMps. Meaning, there were a lot of them, doing a lot of chUMpy things. And we only started keeping track in September.

We have named three Finalists for the "chUMp-of-the-Year" award, and the race is virtually a dead-heat. This showdown is basically a tie between three prominent chUMps; a current player, a former player, and an administrator:

TAYLOR LEWAN

DESMOND HOWARD

DAVID BRANDON

In the next three days, we will make the case for each of these candidates. We will use reader comments to explain why each of these chUMps was the Grand Marshall of 2013. Please be sure to add your comments to each article, as the final winner has not yet been determined.




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THE LOWLIGHTS OF 2013 MICHIGAN FOOTBALL, BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE DETROIT FREE PRESS

Things went so poorly this year for Michigan Football that the Detroit Free Press finally had to admit it. No more "Blue Wall" syndrome (or so they would like you to think).

So they published a photo essay depicting the worst moments of the very memorable 2013 season. No, it didn't include any pix of Taylor Lewan face-masking or fan-stomping, and there wasn't an image of Royce Jenkins-Stone sparking the on-field brawl against Ohio STATE.

But hey, at least they're trying, right?

MICHIGAN FOOTBALL 2013 PHOTO ESSAY

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